In honor of St. Patrick's Day I have packed four Irish ingredients into one tasty little appetizer: oysters, cabbage, Guinness stout and Colman's Mustard.

What's that? The skeptics among you are claiming that fully half of those ingredients — the oysters and Colman's — are ringers? Not so. And here's why.

In search of inspiration, I dove into a shelf's worth of Irish cookbooks. To my surprise, oysters kept bobbing to the surface. So I concluded that the Irish love oysters. Unfortunately, they tend to love them most when they're swimming in cream.

Here in America we like our oysters fried. But I no more intended to fry these guys than to bathe them in cream. Not only is deep-frying unhealthy, it's also messy.

As I continued to pore over my Irish cookbooks, I noticed that Guinness stout appeared as an ingredient nearly as often as oysters. Suddenly, inspiration hit. When it comes to frying, my favorite batter is made with beer. Why not batter my oysters with Guinness (and a bit of flour, of course), then saute them?

A couple of years ago I learned how well it worked as a frying substitute when I used the technique on shrimp. Turns out it works just as well on oysters. As a result, this recipe requires only a single tablespoon of oil, instead of the 4 cups usually called for in deep-fat frying.

Now I just needed to sauce them up a bit, which brings us to Colman's Mustard. I know it's made in England, but that's close enough for me.

What I love about Colman's is that it's seriously hot. I added a generous dollop of the stuff to a combo of mayo and Greek yogurt, along with some chopped pickles.

The only thing missing now was a nod to one of Ireland's favorite vegetables after the potato, namely cabbage. So I topped this appetizer with shredded cabbage and carrots, tossed simply with cider vinegar, sugar and salt. The whole concoction came together very nicely. A true ode to Ireland.

"Fried" Guinness Battered Oysters with Mustard Pickle Sauce

½ to ¾ cup Guinness stout

½ cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the oysters

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped cornichons or dill pickle

½ teaspoon prepared Colman's Mustard (or the mustard of your choice)

¾ cup coarsely shredded carrots

¾ cup finely shredded cabbage (preferably savoy or Napa)

1 ½ tablespoons cider vinegar

Hefty pinch of granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

12 oysters, shucked, reserving the bottom (curvier) shell to serve

In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the Guinness, ½ cup flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. The batter should have the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If it is thicker than that, add additional beer. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, cornichons or pickle and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.

In another small bowl, toss together the carrots, cabbage, vinegar, sugar and a hefty pinch of salt.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium, heat the oil. Dip the oysters in the additional flour to coat them on all sides. Transfer the coated oyster to a strainer to shake gently to remove excess flour.

Add the coated oysters to the beer batter. Lift them from the batter, letting the excess batter drip off, then add them to the skillet. Cook until they are golden, about 2 minutes per side, then transfer them to paper towels to drain.

To serve, put the oysters in the reserved shells, then top each with a bit of the mustard sauce and some of the carrot mixture. Serve either on a platter as hors d'oeuvres, or divide among 4 serving plates. Serve immediately.

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